The present invention relates to an instrument for and method of measuring dilatation of cervix uteri during a first stage of labor.
In medical practice a degree of dilatation of cervix uteri is measured by fingers of a physician. A physician inserts two fingers into a birth canal so that his or her fingers reach the edges of the orifice of cervix uteri, palpates the cervix uteri by one finger when the former is dilated to a small degree, and moves the fingers apart from one another so as to bring them into contact with the edge of the orifice with the dilated cervix uteri. The thickness of the one finger in the first step and the distance between the fingers in the second step are evaluated by a physician on the ground of his or her sensing and serve as indications of the degree of dilatation of cervix uteri.
It is to be understood that such measurements cannot be accurate. The same degree of dilatation is evaluated by various physicians differently, and the thus-obtained results are not identical. For this reason such measurements are proved to be misleading in many cases, since a physician cannot know exactly his or her finger thickness and a distance therebetween in an extended position when the fingers are moved apart from one another. However, accurate determination of the degree of dilatation of cervix uteri is of an extreme importance for successful monitoring of progress and therefore outcome of the labor.